In order to maintain optimum health, many people are encouraged to take nutritional supplements, such as vitamin and mineral supplements. These supplements are typically in solid form, such as pills, tablets, or capsules, which result in various problems. One of these problems is that solid form supplements are oftentimes hard to chew and/or swallow. In addition, solid form supplements are often bitter tasting and many times a consumer has to take more than one pill, tablet, or capsule, which makes them even harder to swallow. More importantly, consumers sometimes forget how many dosages they are supposed to consume and how often they are supposed to take them. This may lead to either under-dosage or over-dosage of the supplement.
Supplements less often come in liquid form; however, these liquid supplements may also lead to under-dosage or over-dosage because a consumer typically has to use a utensil, such as a tablespoon or teaspoon, to take the supplement. Not only does this result in either under-dosage or over-dosage, but can lead to spillage and waste of the supplement. Dosage cups may be used to take the liquid supplement; however, existing dosage cups may not be readily attainable. For example, a consumer may misplace it, it may be in the dishwasher, or a child may have hidden it.
A dosage cup that is removably fixed to the cap of a container has, in the past, had internal structures that may contain too much bacteria and are hard to keep clean and sterile. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,150,761, a dosage cup is removably fixed to a cap of a container by numerous ribs that fit within grooves on the outside of the cap so that the dosage cup and cap can be removed from the container together. Additional internal structures on the inside of the dosage cup are provided to regulate axial travel of the dosage cup. A similar dosage cup is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,273,247. However, the dosage cup shown therein has a cup collar with retaining lugs to secure the dosage cup to the cap and additional axial ribs for additional stiffening for the cup collar.